


Shards

by inquisitor_tohru



Category: RWBY
Genre: Comfort Sex, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Evernight Castle, F/M, Fairy Tale Curses, Implied Sexual Content, Land of Darkness, Magic Mirrors, Mild Smut, Multifandom Horror Exchange 2020, Non-Explicit Sex, Salem's Court, Snow Queen Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:35:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24841657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/pseuds/inquisitor_tohru
Summary: Emerald and Mercury come across a beautiful yet terrible mirror while exploring Evernight Castle.
Relationships: Mercury Black/Emerald Sustrai
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17
Collections: Multifandom Horror Exchange (2020)





	Shards

**Author's Note:**

  * For [skysedge](https://archiveofourown.org/users/skysedge/gifts).



Emerald Sustrai had been doing this long enough to know that some treasures were best left alone. That mirror could have been made from one thousand and one big-ass diamonds and she'd steer clear of it. They'd found it during one of their rare explorations of Evernight Castle, when the quarters she and Mercury had been provided with had grown suffocating, even for two people used to living in each other's pockets. At least twenty feet tall, the mirror was beautiful, illuminated by candlelight and stained scarlet by the red skies. Beautiful, and terrible - not because it had cracked like the moon, or because the jagged, pieced together shards were sharp enough to slash a throat, but because every single fragment, whether the size of Emerald's heart-shaped face or a grain of sand, was imbued with darkness.

When she caught sight of Mercury's expression as he approached the mirror, Emerald cast her own gaze downwards. Given what her semblance was, she recognised an illusion when she saw one, and she _really_ didn't care to look upon any illusion that Evernight Castle had to offer. She put a hand on Mercury's arm. His whole body trembled, except for his legs.

"It's not real, Merc," she said gently, giving his arm a squeeze. "Whatever it is, it's not real." He bit his lip, but nodded. He trusted Emerald more than some stupid, beautiful mirror. She didn't ask what he saw - that was his business and he'd share it with her if, or more likely when, he felt like it.

Over the next few days Salem didn't summon them to the conference hall, and they kept to their quarters. It might have been claustrophobic, but stale air was better than poison gas. She missed Cinder, Grimm arm and all, something fierce, but she was just fine without Watts' condescending comments or Tyrian's sinister, sharp-toothed smile. And of course...that was to say nothing of Salem herself.

Since that day with the mirror, Mercury was unusually clingy. More than once she woke up with a heavy arm draped over her chest or a cool, metallic leg pressed up against hers. They normally shared a bed, sometimes even embraced - Emerald wasn't sure the Land of Darkness had weather to speak of, but it was always the kind of cold that chilled you down to your very bones.

But this was new.

"What did you see, Em?" Mercury was only half-awake as he nuzzled her neck, sleep still caught in the corners of his eyes. She didn't need to ask what he was talking about.

"I didn't look." He stilled for a moment, then shivered with the cold. Emerald pulled the threadbare covers tighter around them.

"Good." She still didn't ask him what he'd seen that had rattled him so much. Instead, she melted into his touch when he rolled on top of her, asking permission with his eyes. She grasped his collar and pulled him close into a kiss that began as all tongue and teeth, before it became gentle, _soft_. Unexpected, but not unwelcome. Mercury whimpered when she gripped his hips, which would almost have been amusing if it hadn't been for the sudden and unsettling _thwack_ against the window, followed by an awful, inhuman screech.

The Nevermore scratched at the crystal-glass with its bloody beak and talons, its four red eyes fixed on Mercury as its colossal black wings continued to thrash against the window. He jerked back against the wall, breathing too fast, too shallow.

"I'm scared," he laughed bitterly, gesturing to the corvid-like Grimm, "in case that wasn't embarrassingly obvious." If Emerald was a crueller woman, she would have mocked him. Mercury Black, who, only a few weeks ago, was so sure he was right where he was supposed to be. Who had chastised _her_ for having a "crisis of identity". But she wasn't cruel, and she wasn't one to hold a grudge over a few heated words.

It felt like a stupid question, given that they were in the Land of bloody _Darkness_ , but it was time for her to ask.

"Of what?" When he spoke, it was so quiet that it could barely even be called a whisper. But for a successful thief, near-silence was a lifelong friend and companion, so Emerald heard him loud and clear. She activated her semblance, stifling the Nevermore's cries with an auditory illusion, and she listened.

"...In that room...it felt like I was coming _home._ " He rubbed at his right eye, as if something other than the crust of sleep was lodged in there. She resisted trying to break the tension with a joke about old mirrors being made of mercury. "I can't explain it."

"We'll get to the bottom of it." She wasn't entirely sure how they'd do that, and certainly didn't relish the idea of going back to the creepy mirror room, but for now she just needed to _sound_ convincing and illusions, after all, were her speciality.

"About before-" Her illusion still held, but the Nevermore had begun to lose interest, which was a good sign. So this time she couldn't _help_ but tease him, just a little.

"I guess it wasn't the _worst_." She stepped closer, her hands sliding down to grab his hips in the way that had made him whimper. That was another of Emerald's many talents - distraction. And if the distraction was pleasurable for all involved? A nice little bonus.

Maybe it was the rush of adrenaline, but Mercury didn't need any more encouragement. She put her hand over his as it slipped beneath the satin of her pyjama shorts, guiding him inside her.

 _"Fuck,_ Em," he murmured, his breath hot against her neck, "I- are you sure you-" Emerald nodded, not sure that she'd be able to form a coherent sentence just noe. It wasn't as if she'd _thought_ about this, or more specifically about how Mercury's legs were so strong he could probably fuck her up against the wall without breaking a sweat. Judging from his expression, Mercury definitely hadn't thought about anything like this either. _Definitely_ not. At _all_.

When they tumbled back onto the bed, laughing, she thought she saw a sharp violet segment slicing through his right iris, hardly more than a sliver. Briefly, she thought of when they first met - didn't Mercury's eyes have a purple sheen to them back then? But then he was kissing her neck, and it was hard to concentrate. And just as quickly it was gone, like nothing more than a trick of the light - such things were hardly uncommon in the castle, with its dim candlelight and softly glowing crystals. It was probably nothing.

In any case, she had _much_ better things to focus on right now than Evernight Castle's suboptimal lighting solutions.


End file.
